Website Accessibility Disproportionate Burden
Request ID: FOI-3840-1920
Date published: 09 April 2020
You asked
I have identified that you have claimed disproportionate burden under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018, in your response to my previous FOI in which you say "We have more than 8000 PDFs published on TfL.gov.uk. We have deemed it a disproportionate burden to retroactively make these all fully accessible."
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/website_accessibility_10#incoming-1531861
Please could you provide me a copy of all completed disproportionate burden assessments or other related documentation detailing how you reached your conclusions of disproportionate burden for the issue mentioned.
I would appreciate this information in a computer readable format as I use assistive technology so any format besides a scanned PDF is preferable please.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-3840-1920
Thank you for your request received on 11 March 2020 asking for information about website accessibility.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy.
We do not hold the information you have requested. To date no formal ‘assessment’ has been carried out as it was clear from the numbers that the work needed would be a disproportionate burden. There are circa 8000 PDFs on the website that we would need to make accessible. Even if we were to take a very basic calculation of each taking an hour to make accessible, this would be over a thousand days’ worth of work. This is not taking into account that some of these PDFs could be dozens, or hundreds, of pages long. In such cases it would take a considerably longer to complete one PDF. In addition, many of the PDFs get a very low readership. We have prioritised the most popular and important documents.
Please accept our apologies that we are unable to assist you further on this occasion.
Please note, the Government has announced a series of measures to tackle the coronavirus. It is essential for London, and in particular for all critical workers, that we continue to provide a safe transport network that enables them to make the journeys they need to.
In current circumstances, we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.
Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[email protected]
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